Grace Riley remembers back when the festival she and her husband started only drew a handful of merchants.
“Boy, you really think back, the first year we maybe had 10 or 15 vendors,” she said. “The second year, maybe a little more. And it has grown fantastic since then.”
“It” would be the Danielsville Fall Festival, which returns for its eighth year Saturday, Oct. 18, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Madison County Memorial Park.
Riley and her husband, Jerry, began the event because they wanted something that would bring Danielsville and the county together.
Eight years later, it’s still serving that purpose.
“That’s what we wanted to do, something for the community and the county both,” Riley said.
Riley, who said her job title “is a little bit of everything,” expects the mix of food, music and prizes will draw a nice crowd this year.
New Vision leads off the festivities at 9 a.m., followed by performances from the Madison County School of Dance and the Southern Stompers. The Holman Autry Band will then take the stage from noon to 5 p.m.
Riley said the headliners usually bring an audience.
“Of course, a lot come to hear the Holman Autry Band,” she said.
The band will take several breaks during its five hour-set, during which several prizes will be raffled.
Riley said there’s still space left for vendors, who are selling arts, crafts or food, to sign-on. Organizers will take applications as late as the day of the festival.
“Crafting has to be absolutely hand-made, or homemade,” Riley explained.
Also on the schedule is a cruise-in by the Madison County Cruisers from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
As the event has grown, so has the help.
Riley said she now has a committee of 5-6 members planning the festival each year.
“So it’s not just my husband and I, we’ve got people with us and behind us,” Riley said.
What: Eight-annual Danielsville Fall Festival
When: Saturday, Oct. 18 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Madison County Memorial Park, Danielsville
What else: Food, arts, crafts, music and prizes.
Notes: Among the goods being raffled away are a flat screen television, a GPS, an electric scooter, a gas grill, a two-piece tool box on wheels, a PSP (PlayStation Portable), an iPod, a Georgia Bulldog kit and a hunters kit.
